University of Florida Research Foundation, Incorporated

Georgia Tech Research Corporation

Justin Adam Kerszulis

John Robert Reynolds

Aubrey Lynn Dyer

Chad Martin Amb

Emily Thompson

Michael R Craig

Copolymers including dioxythiophene repeating units and no acceptor units allow the formation of electrochromic polymers (ECPs) with vivid neutral state colors and very colorless oxidized states that can be switched rapidly. The dioxythiophene repeating units can included in sequences where all of one type of dioxythiophene is included exclusively as isolated dyads or triads within the copolymer, or the copolymer can be an alternating copolymer with propylenedioxythiophene units. Other non-acceptor units can be included in the copolymers. The copolymers are rendered organic solvent soluble by alkyl substituents on repeating units. The inclusion of sterically encumbered acyclic dioxythiophene (AcDOT) units promotes red color while unsubstituted ethylenedioxythiophene (EDOT) units promote blue colors, and their respective content can be manipulated to achieve a desired neutral state color. Soluble copolymers comprising at least 50% EDOT repeating units can be used in supercapacitor applications.

Broadly absorbing electrochromic polymers

Yellow electrochromic polymers (ECPs) are prepared that display a yellow neutral state and a highly transmissive oxidized state. The ECPs are copolymers where a dyad of dioxyhetereocyclic repeating unis alternate with a monad of an aromatic repeating unit. An alternate yellow ECP has an oxidation potential of 450 mV or less and is an alternating copolymer of an acyclic dioxythiophene (AcDOT) or a propylene dioxythiophene (ProDOT) with an aromatic repeating unit that has an electron donating substituent. The yellow ECPs can be processed from solution for electrochromic devices.

Yellow to transmissive electrochromic polymers

An improved contrast electrochromic polymers(ECP), is a copolymer having donor sequences with a normal distribution of at least one solubilizing donor repeating unit selected from substituted propylenedioxythiophene units (ProDOT) and/or substituted acyclic dioxythiophene units (AcDOT) and a plurality of monodispersed trimer sequences consisting of an acceptor unit bonded between two ethylenedioxythiophene units (EDOT), two methylenedioxythiophene units (MDOT), or a fused DAD trimer, where the monodispersed trimer sequence separates two of the donor sequences. One useful monodispersed trimer sequence is EDOT-BTD-EDOT (EBE). The donor sequences can have ProDOT units bound to the monodispersed trimer sequence. The donor sequence can have ProDOT units alternating with AcDOT units. Useful ECPs can have the structure: Pro-Pro/EBE; Ac-Ac/EBE; or Pro-Ac/EBEwhere x is a fraction between 0.5 and 0.9.

Donor-acceptor compositions to achieve high contrast broadly absorbing electrochromic polymers

Embodiments of the invention are directed to yellow-to-transmissive conjugated polymers, a method to prepare the yellow conjugated polymers, the use of the yellow conjugated polymers in an electrochromic and/or electroluminescent device comprising neutral state primary subtractive colored conjugated polymers, and a method to prepare the device comprising the yellow conjugated polymer. The yellow conjugated polymers comprise a sequence of dioxythiophene units alternating with aromatic units, thiophene units, furan units, and/or pyrrole units. The yellow conjugated polymers are prepared by cross-condensation reactions. The yellow conjugated polymers can be soluble and preparation of the device involves deposition of the yellow conjugated polymer from solution onto a surface.

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Foster City, CA, United States of America

Justin Adam Kerszulis